City's myths to be 'busted'

Discover series to correct the historical record

No matter how powerful a metal detector treasure hunters may use or how thorough their search or how deep the holes they dig, there’s a cold hard fact they’ll learn: There’s no buried treasure in the Plaza de la Constitucion.

Oh, but rubes will think “Ah! That’s what they want us to believe. I bet something’s there.”

No, it’s not.

On Tuesday night, historical experts will debunk this curious but entrenched belief and others in “Mythbusters! Fact and Fiction in St. Augustine’s History” at Flagler College’s Lewis Auditorium, part of the city’s latest Discover First America! series.

Presented by Flagler College, Florida Power & Light Company and the St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission, this free, five-part series — is it history or is it entertainment, or both? — explores facets of the city’s rich history and culture that may be true, half-true or complete hokum.

This time we learn why the bones of the seven-foot-tall Timucuan Indians living here when Don Pedro Menendez landed in 1565 have never been found.

Are any Timucuans left?

What about the postal worker’s body said to be entombed deep within the bowels of Government House in 1936?

Not all questions will be answered or secrets revealed, but during St. Augustine’s nearly 450 years of history, stories about its colorful past have abounded and some have been twisted a bit.

What happened during St. Augustine’s housing bubble in the 1760s? Jessie Fish will tell you the truth, maybe.

Slip him a dollar.

Ever watch Hollywood Squares? Well what’s its connection to St. Augustine history? Too many questions?

If mysteries make you dizzy, watch the evening’s highlight.

That would be the historical re-enactment of the real First Thanksgiving and then forever sneer at the chutzpah of the Plymouth Pilgrims’ claim of being first when that occurred more than 40 years after St. Augustine’s celebratory Mass of Thanksgiving in 1565.

Doors at the auditorium open at 6 p.m. for seating, lobby displays, information and book signings. The blizzard of truth begins promptly an hour later.